SOMBRERO!
t-v*CUFFORD KNIGHT — I
Elsa chatBeld Is disinherited by her
Aunt Kitty who died of an overdose of
morphine. Bunt Rogers and Barry Madi
son go to Mexico to solve what they be
lieve to be Aunt Kitty's murder. On ar
riving they find that Elsa’s party has
preceded them by plane, games Chese
bro Is murdered, Elsa’s father, Sam,
meets death from the sword of a marlin
when his chair breaks, toppling him Into
the sea, and George Rumble is murdered
and thrown into the sea near the dock.
Rogers questions Berta, Sam’s wife, and
on examining the quirt with which Elsa
had beaten Chesebro discovers by twist
ing the knob that it conceals the knife
that kUled Chesebro.
Now Continue.
CHAPTER XVIII
“In the presence of Senor Lom
bardo and realizing the implication
in it that you killed Chesebro?”
For only a fraction of a second
did she hesitate, then she answered
calmly, “Yes.”
Senor Otilio Lombardo, jefe del
policia, came up the Orizaba’s lad
der the next day but one, followed
by Dr. Miguel Cruz. On the heels
of the doctor came the barefooted,
ragged mariachis, Felipe and Pan
cho.
“I have puzzled much, gentle
men," remarked Lombardo in Eng
lish after cigarettes had been light
ed, "about the confession of Senorita
Chatfield that she killed Senor Chese
bro. I do not understand it, and I
take no action. I had coma that
evening persuaded that it was bet
ter, despite your promise, that I
keep Senor Barton in jail for the
murder of Senor Rumble. But when
Senorita Chatfield speak I am con
fused, senor, and do not know what
is best to do."
A faint smile twitched at Rogers’
lips and he looked away across the
bay to the shore where the coco
palms seemed to shoot like bursting
green rockets into the sky.
"There are many confusing things
in this affair, senor,” he remarked.
“They have puzzled me too, but I
believe that I can explain them all
f? now.”
“I would be very glad if you
would.”
“Four persons have died, Senor
Lombardo—Katherine Chatfield in
California; James Chesebro, Sam
Chatfield and George Rumble, in
Mexico. The explanation must in
clude all four. It must be logical
and there must be proof.”
“Yes, of course,” said Rogers.
“Sam Chatfield and his wife, Ber
ta, arrived in California for their
annual visit a year ago last winter.
They stopped at a hotel in Pasa
dena, and, uninvited, went to spend
the night with his sister, Kather
ine—Elsa’s Aunt Kitty. That night
Katherine Chatfield was murdered.
The method used was an overdose
of morphine, to which drug she was
an addict, taking it hypodermically.
A very faint odor of chloroform de
tected the next morning by only one
investigator furnishes the single clue
to what happened. A few drops of
' chloroform on a handkerchief, I be
lieve, suddenly held to the unsus
pecting victim's nose, and kept in
place during the brief and violent
struggle which probably followed,
and the victim was unconscious.
There was necessary only to load
the hypodermic with an overdose
of morphine 4nd shoot it into the
unconscious victim, wipe away all
fingerprints from the syringe and
the supply bottle, and press the
prints of the victim on these things.
Simple?”
“It is most simple, Senor Rog
ers,” said Lombardo, a serious ex
pression upon his round, brown face.
“Either a man or a woman could
have done that, senor,” Rogers be
gan again. “Now, consider these
facts: Present in the house, besides
the servants, who do not figure in it
at all. was Sam Chatfield. He knew
that his sister was the mother of a
child. He knew that she not only
had refused to acknowledge the fact,
but had permitted his daughter. El
sa, to be cruelly slandered, and not
only had done nothing to quiet the
gossip, but most likely had been in
strumental in circulating it.
“Also in the house that night was
Elsa, who openly and frankly at all
times, as you heard the other night,
~*%as admitted that she hated her
aunt. Besides these two there was
Senora Berta Chatfield, who ever
since she married Sam had resent
ed the treatment given her by
her sister-in-law, and who, as a
wife, knew how her husband felt
toward Katherine Chatfield.
“There, Senor Lombardo,” Rog
ers continued, “I have named three
persons with motives to kill and ob
viously with the opportunity to do
so. But there were others that
night who came and went. George
Rumble, who had done some pub
licity work for Katherine Chatfield,
came to receive his pay, which was
refused him. There was an argu
ment and hot words, and Rumble
left. But he remained in the neigh
borhood uncertain whether or not
he should return. Did he go back
and kill her?”
Rogers was developing very logi
cally the facts in that first slaying,
and Lombardo followed his words
closely. Doctor Cruz sat smoking
cornhusk cigarettes endlessly, his
eyelids making mere slits for his
eyes. Neither spoke.
“That night, also,” Rogers went
on evenly, "Reed Barton was at
Katherine Chatfield’s home to give
her a book sent by Chesebro. Reed
has been very frank to admit that
his father’s death—a suicide—can
be laid at the dead woman’s door.
A little leniency shown in a critical
time would have saved his property
for him. Did Reed Barton kill her?
"James Chesebro arrived and de
parted that night; we do not know
why, the reason for his visit never
having been explained before his
death. Did he have some motive to
kill the woman? Next came Dwight
Nichols.” Rogers nodded in
Dwight’s direction. The latter mere
ly sat and smoked calmly, listening
without offering to interrupt.
"Dwight Nichols profited by some
two hundred thousand dollars at the
death of Katherine Chatfield, be
cause of some jointly owned proper
ty. Dwight has stated that he was
summoned, for some reason un
known to him, to advise with Miss
Chatfield. Margaret Nichols was
jealous of Katherine Chatfield, be
cause she feared her husband’s love
was being stolen from her. She,
also, made a visit that night. How
ever, Mrs. Nichols says she got only
as far as the entrance hall when
someone dashed out of the house in
panic, someone who, she says, did
not see her concealed behind some
drapery. That person admittedly
“And finally, there is Elsa,” said
Rogers thoughtfully.
was her husband. Dwight Nichols
says that he arrived only to find
Katherine Chatfield dead. Is he tell
ing the truth? Is his wife telling the
truth; did either, or both, of them
kill the woman?” Rogers halted to
sip from his frosty glass.
“It is all very strange, Senor Rog
ers,” said Lombardo, stirring un
easily in his chair. “How can you
discover the truth in so compli
cated a case?”
Rogers smiled faintly, and I
thought that there was the merest
twinkle in his mild blue eyes. “If,”
he began again, “we exclude from
suspicion all those persons who sub
sequently died by violence—Chese
bro, Sam Chatfield, George Rumble
—as victims of and not themselves
the probable killer, whom have we
left?" He glanced from Doctor Cruz
to Lombardo, then named them:
“Elsa Chatfield, Senora Berta Chat
field, Margaret Nichols, Dwight
Nichols, and Reed Barton. Those
fivp
"Now, then,” Rogers said, a crisp
ness coming into his voice, “we
come to the death of James Chese
bro. Of these five who could possi
bly wish him to die? Senora Berta
Chatfleld? I can think of no reason;
I know of no motive, in fact. On the
other hand. Reed Barton and Chese
bro quarreled with each other over
the love of Elsa Chatfleld. Chese
bro had discharged Barton from his
employ. An excellent motive,” he
commented. “But—Dwight Nichols
had been defrauded by Chesebro of
fifty thousand dollars in a mining
deal. That is a lot of money. Men
have been murdered before now for
much less, Senor Lombardo. And
how about Margaret Nichols, the
wife? Again fifty thousand dollars is
a lot of money—to a woman.”
“Yes, of course, much money,"
murmured Lombardo, absorbed in
his own mental processes.
“And, finally, there is Elsa,” said
Rogers thoughtfully. “Hers is a
stronger motive than all the others
put together, senor. A young wom
an's good name is her most valuable
possession. You are Mexican, and
can understand the word revenge.
Elsa was willing night before last to
permit the inference that she had
killed Chesebro. Senor, is Pedro,
the pulque seller, a lying scoundrel
who seeks to protect a woman, or
does he tell the truth when he says
that Dwight Nichols is the one who
killed?”
Lombardo's face was puzzled; he
was now hopelessly at sea. A frown
had gathered on the forehead be
tween the slitted eyes of Doctor
Cruz as he followed the intricacies
of the problem as set forth by Rog
ers. As for Rogers, I could not
escape the conviction that he was
enjoying himself hugely at the ex
pense of Lombardo. His face, how-j
ever, was more solemn than that of |
a judge. Lombardo started slightly
at Rogers' question.
”Yo no se, senor,” he admitted,
reverting to Spanish in his confu
sion.
"I think, Senor Lombardo.” said
Rogers, dropping with a smile into
Spanish, “you will let Pedro out of
jail when I finish telling you who is
the guilty person.” Lombardo’s only
response was an involuntary lifting
of the eyebrows.
“However,” Rogers took up again
in English in a more serious vein,
“the name of the guilty one must
wait a few minutes longer. I will
come to it at the proper time. But
now let us look for a moment at the
death of Sam Chatfleld. His is the
most puzzling in the entire series.
So much seems accident, so little
may have been the handiwork of a
murderer. A nut had come un
screwed from the swivel mechanism
of the chair in which Sam sat in
the launch. If the chair had not
collapsed, there is little likelihood
that he would have fallen overboard,
probably none at all. Did some
body remove the nut? There was
opportunity to do so for everybody
who went on the fishing excursion,
and even for George Rumble, who
did not go. All of us, except the
women members of the party, knew
beforehand that Sam Chatfleld would
sit in that chair when we went after
marlin.
“And, yet, I know ol no motive
upon the part of anyone for the
death of Sam Chatfleld. Of course,
one never knows what’s between a
husband and a wife. Did Senora
Chatfleld have some motive un
known to us, and did she learn in
some manner which seat her hus
band would occupy on that fatal ex
cursion in the launch? But—let’s
drop Sam Chatfleld’s death for the
moment, and go on to George Rum
ble’s. I think that in it we will find
something of interest—perhaps the
key we are seeking.”
Lombardo shifted in his chair and
looked away for a moment to the
tall towers of the church. Doctor
Cruz crushed out the spark in his
cigarette under his heel, and for a
moment his hands were idle. The
mariachis were growing restless,
understanding nothing that had been
said in English. Reed Barton sat
easily with legs crossed, and Dwight
continued calmly to smoke.
“There are motives recognizable
in the death of George Rumble,”
Rogers began once more. “For
Margaret Nichols there was no op
portunity. Senora Chatfleld has ad
mitted she went to the wharf that
night to find someone to send for
her husband’s fishing equipment, j
Felipe and Pancho went on that er
rand for her. She returned to the
yacht. She asserts, however, that
she did not see Rumble, who was
murdered on the wharf that night.
There was a motive for the murder
of Rumble on the part of Dwight
Nichols; he and Rumble quarreled
only a short time before Rumble
died. Rumble knew that Dwight
was the man who rushed in panic
out of Katherine Chatfield’s house
the night she was murdered; he held
it over him, as it were, and Dwight
believed it was for the purpose of
blackmail. After the two separat
ed, Dwight, in the presence of Bar
ry Madison, Sam Chatfleld and me,
made a remark which could be in
terpreted as a threat. He said that
he would have to manage some way
to quiet Rumble definitely.”
Dwight was unmoved by this re
cital; he tapped the ash from his
cigarette and continued to gaze
calmly at Rogers. The latter paused
to sip his glass of limeade before
he went on.
"Another motive, not so strong,
perhaps, is one that can be assigned
to Reed Barton. George Rumble
had fallen in love with Elsa. You
knew that didn’t you, Reed?”
•'Yes.”
‘‘Again, Senor Lombardo,” said
Rogers, turning back to the chief,
“love is a possible motive. How !
strong? How shall it be evaluated?”
He paused only briefly. “However, j
there’s a very definite motive, and
I think the real one, to account for
Rumble’s murder — Rumble knew
too much. He boasted that he knew
who the killer was. What, in that
case, will a murderer do? He will
strike at the first opportunity, for
he prizes his safety above all else.
And that’s what happened.”
Lombardo stirred uneasily in his
chair. “Who, Senor Rogers,” he
asked, “heard Senor Rumble boast
that he knew the murderer?”
“Barry Madison, Sam Chatfield,
Dwight Nichols, and I.”
"So?”
Reed Barton shifted his feet
and cleared his throat lightly. “I
shouldn’t be left out. Hunt. Rumble
hinted very broadly to me that he
knew who killed Chesebro, then
closed up like a clam when I asked
him about it.”
Rogers looked at him sharply, as
if to determine whether the state
ment was made in a vein of bra
vado, or because he wished to be
helpful. For a moment he was silent
and then appeared to shift his ap
proach to the problem of Rumble’s
murder.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
HOUSEHOLD
MZMOS...
.... ..
Midwinter Jellies Pep Up Menus!
(See Recipes Below)
Get Your Spreads!
Are you low on brown points?
Then set the jelly and jam kettles
boiling with midwinter fruits and
make some delicious spreads to
save points.
Last summer when homemakers
were putting up their fruits they dis
covered they did
not have enough
sugar for putting
up all the jams
and jellies they *
would like, but ^
now they have
probably caught up on the sugar and
can boil the juices they saved into
delicious, quivery jellies. Use the
jellies and jams on biscuits and muf
fins when the butter is scarce. It
spells first aid and appetite appeal
to menus.
For those of you who did not put
up juices for winter jelly-making,
there are plenty of fruits in season
now that make delightful spreads.
Out with the kettles and colanders,
with jelly glasses and paraffin and
here we go:
Orange Marmalade.
(Makes 6 6-ounce glasses)
3>4 cups prepared fruit (about
1% pounds)
Z'A cups sugar
1 3-ounce box powdered fruit
pectin
Prepare fruit. Use peels from 6
medium-sized oranges and 2 lemons.
Cut in quarters. Lay quarters flat;
shave off and discard half of white
part. Put peels through chopper
twice. Add 1 cup sugar, 2*6 cups
water, juice from 1 medium-sized
lemon and ^ teaspoon soda. (This
1 cup sugar is in addition to meas
urement given above.) Cover. Heat
to boiling. Simmer 30 minutes, stir
ring occasionally. Measure sugar
into dry dish and set aside until
needed. Measure prepared fruit into
3 to 4-quart kettle, filling up last
cup or fraction of cup with water
if necessary. Place over high heat.
Add powdered pectin, mix well, and
continue stirring until mixture
comes to a hard boil. Pour in sugar
at once, stirring constantly. Con
tinue stirring, heat to a full, rolling
boil and boil hard 2 minutes. Re
move from heat, skim, pour quick
ly. Paraffin hot marmalade at once.
Honey Orange Jelly.
(Makes 6 6-ounce glasses)
1 cup juice
3 cups honey
% bottle fruit pectin
To prepare juice, squeeze and
strain juice from 2 medium oranges.
. Measure juice
ana noney mio a
large saucepan
I and mix well.
Heat to boiling
over high heat
and at once add
fruit pectin, stir
” ring constantly.
Then heat to a lull rolling boil and
Lynn Says
.felly Hints; Consistency and
flavor are the most important
points in making jelly. Careful
cooking can give you a high score
on both.
To jell, fruit juices must con
tain pectin or must have it added
from a commercial product. Pec
tin must be combined with the
correct proportion of sugar in the
presence of acids and mineral
salts to form jelly.
Prolonged cooking destroys the
power of pectin, especially in the
very acid fruits. This is the rea
son that no more water than nec
essary should be used in cooking
the fruit.
Best jellies are tender and
quivery and translucent. They
should cut easily but break with
a clean, sha^p line.
Save Used Fats
Lynn Chambers’ Point-Saving
Menu
Dinner Complete
Lettuce Salad with French
Dressing
Bran-Raisin Muffins Jelly
Baked Apple Oatmeal Cookies
Beverage
boil hard % minute. Remove from
heat, skim, pour quickly. Paraffin
hot jelly at once.
Grapefruit Marmalade.
(Makes 2 to 3 pints)
1 grapefruit
1 orange
1 lemon
Slice fruit very thin, remove pulp
from peel. To each pint of pulp,
use an equal quantity of water and
IVt times as much sugar. Let come
to a boil. Remove from fire, let
stand overnight. Boil the shredded
skins of the fruit in twice their
bulk of water until tender, then let
stand overnight in the water in
which they were boiled. On the
next day, heat the skins to the boil
ing point, then add pulp mixture
and boil rapidly until thick enough
to congeal when tested. Pour into
sterilized glass jars and seal.
If you can spare a few points for
the crushed pineapple called for in
this recipe you can make a colorful
and tart jam that will delight the
family no end:
Winter Jam.
3 cups cranberries
I cup diced apples
1V4 cups water
1 cup crushed pineapple
3 cups sugar
Juice and grated rind of
1 lemun
Cook the cranberries and apples ,
in water until they are clear and |
leuuer. nuu uie
lemon, pineapple
and sugar. Mix
well and boil the
mixture rapidly
until it is thick
and clear. Pour
into sterilized
glass jars and
seal at once.
Colorful and spicy is this next jam
with all the relish and tang that
only cranberries can give:
Cranberry Jam.
8 cups cranberries
1 cup each, water and vinegar
6 cups sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
% tablespoon ground cloves
14 tablespoon ground allspice
Mash cranberries lightly. Add
vinegar and water and cook until
soft. Put through a coarse strainer;
add sugar and spices. Cook 8 min
utes, stirring constantly. Pour into
sterilized jars and seal immediately.
And now for those of you who
have bottled grape juice on hand.
Here is an excellent jelly that is
quickly made with powdered fruit
pectin:
Grape and Orange Jelly.
(Makes 7 6-ounce glasses)
314 cups sugar
114 cups bottled grape juice
114 cups canned orange juice
1 box powdered fruit pectin
Measure sugar into a dry dish and |
set aside until needed. Measure ,
Juice into a 3- or 4-quart saucepan
and place over hottest fire. Add
powdered fruit pectin, mix well, and
continue stirring until mixture
comes to a hard boil. Pour in sugar
at once, stirring constantly. Bring
to a full rolling boil and boil hard
Vs minute. Remove from fire, skim,
pour quickly. Paraffin hot jelly at
once.
If you want sugar-saving suggestions,
write to Lynn Chambers, Western News
Itaper Union, 210 South Despluines
Street, Chicago 6, Illinois. Don’t for
get to enclose a stamped, self-addressed
envelope for your reply.
Released by Western Newspaper Uni an.
^1903
12-42
For Warmth, Comfort
^ET the greatest good from this
pajama pattern by making it
twice—once in flannel or broad
cloth as a sleeping suit, once in
flannel or corduroy as a lounging
suit. Both ways it will help keep
you warm this winter.
Mexican Pan Holders,
Towels and Curtains
'T'HE corner shelf with towel
* rack screwed to the bottom
and red cut-out scallops across the
front is an idea for a kitchen
brightener. The scalloped strip of
wood over the stove with cup
■ MEXICAN
■ FIGURES
i=a FOR
I TEA TOWELS
1 i CURT AIMS
=*._ AND
, f6t holders
. .4.
hooks for pan holders is another.
It is the Mexican pan holders, tow
els and curtains that will interest
the gift maker with needle and
thread.
A whole set of amusing Mexican
figures may be embroidered in
simple outline stitch in bright col
ors. Some of the transfer designs
are large and some are small.
• • •
NOTE—You will enjoy making articlea
embroidered with these quaint colorful
Mexican figures. There are more than
twenty on this hot iron transfer sheet—all
different and all easy to do. Price 15c.
Order No. 203 and It will be mailed Im
mediately upon receipt. Address:
MRS. RUTH WYETH SPEARS
Bedford Hills New York
Drawer 10
Enclose 15 cents for Transfer No.
203.
Name .
Addresa .
Barbara Bell Pattern No. 1903 Is de
signed for sizes 12. 14. 16. 18 . 20 : 40 and
42. Corresponding bust measurements 30,
32. 34 . 36 , 38. 40 and 42. Size 14 (32). with
long sleeves, requires 5% yards 35 or 38
lnch material.
SEWING CIRCLE PATTERN DEPT.
530 South Wells St. Chicago
Enclose 20 cents in coins for each
pattern desired.
Pattern No.Size.
Name .
Address ..
Next Question, Please!
During a question period follow
ing a lecture, a man arose and
put a foolish query to the speak
er. The latter replied:
“The logic of your question
makes me think of another. Can
you tell me why fire engines are
always red? You can’t? Well,
fire-engines have four wheels and
eight men. Four and eight are
twelve. Twelve inches make •
foot. A foot is a ruler. Queen
Elizabeth was a ruler. The Queen
Elizabeth is the largest ship that
sails the seven seas. Seas have
fish. Fish have fins. The Finns
fight the Russians. The Russians
are red. Fire-engines are always
rushin’. Therefore, fire-engines are
always red.
“I hope this answers your ques
tion also.”
Nose Mast Drain
To Head Colds Miseries
When head colds strike, help noae drain.
clear the way for breathing comfort
with Knndon'a Nual Jelly. Kondon Fl
acta quickly to open clogged passages, soothe
inflamed, irritated tissue, reduce swelling Anes
ingly simple. At all druggists. Used for over S3
years. Satisfaction or money back is guaranteed.
Ask your druggist for I0ND0NS NASAL JULY today.
HARSH LAXATIVES
UNNECESSARY?
Millions Find Simple Fresh
Fruit Drink Gives Them All
the Laxative Aid They Need ,
Don't form the habit of depend
ing on harsh, griping laxatives
until you've tried this easy, health
ful way millions now use to keep
regular.
It’s fresh lemon juice and water
taken first thing in the morning—■
just as soon as you get up. The
juice of one Sunkist Lemon in a
glass of water. Taken thus, on an
empty stomach, it stimulates
normal bowel action, day after
day, for most people.
And lemons are actively good
for you. They’re among the richest
sources of Vitamin C, which com
bats fatigue, helps resist colds and
infections. They supply vitamins
Bi and P, aid digestion and help
alkalinize the system.
Try this grand wake-up drink
10 mornings. See if it doesn’t help
you! Use California Sunkist
Lemons.
Women Honored
Fifty-five Liberty ships have
been named for women.
Just 2 drop* Penetro'
Nose Drops in each I
• nostril help you
breathe freer almost
Instantly, so your
head cold gets air.
Only 26c—2V4 times as
much for 60c. Caution:
Use only as directed. '<
Penetro Nose Prepay
... how good... and nutri
tious .. . and economical,
are those biscuits and quick
breads —baked with Clab
ber Girl.
it Invest in Liberty: Buy War Bonds
TRADiXjHH
Smith Bros, has served the public since 1847.
In that period America has fought five wars.
Only during wartime has there ever been any
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tributing it fairly to all. Still only 5f. A nickel
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F BLACK OR MENTHOL — 5*